Improving Distance Learning Process in Engineering Education Using Design of Experiments: Re-Design of an Online Industrial Engineering Course during and Beyond the Pandemic Covid-19

ABSTRACT

This study aims to improve the quality of the learning process in engineering education. The COVID-19 health crisis pushed the scientific community to review teaching practices and reconsider their effectiveness. Engineering education and learning were not an exception to that. This article introduces a case study using the Design of Experiments method to improve engineering education quality, especially in the distance learning process. In this case study, we focused on designing the process of distance learning and its quality by working on the case of two industrial engineering classes (2021 and 2022 classes) in a Moroccan public engineering school. The collaboration between the teacher and these two engineering students' classes in their third year of industrial engineering enabled us to identify factors influencing learning quality. Then, we determined the optimal combinations of these factors for better quality by analyzing the results of the experiments. The Design of Experiments successfully implemented in manufacturing can also be applied to engineering education settings. The result of this study would help teachers and decision-makers understand the factors that influence the quality of learning to improve the distance learning process.